Community Spirit

There’s Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, but it’s Tuesday that’s causing some to stop and really think about what the holiday season means.

This year, there’s a push for a day of giving thanks: Giving Tuesday.

“Giving Tuesday is a campaign to create a national day of giving at the start of the annual holiday season,” says Richard Bray, with the Washington State Arboretum, which is one of the nationwide partners in the campaign.

The campaign aims to celebrate and encourage charitable activities that support nonprofit organizations.

“Giving Tuesday is a call to each of us to refocus attention during the holiday season on helping the needy, caring for the environment and assisting other important causes after our Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping sprees,” Bray says.

To spread the word, the campaign is taking to social media, asking participants to use the hashtag #GivingTuesday on Twitter and sharing the idea on Facebook.

Visit the Giving Tuesday website to view all the ways families, communities and individuals can give back.

It’s the question that the friends and family of cancer patients so often ask. They want to help, they just don’t know how.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) is offering you a chance to help local cancer patients in a very simple way: Just give them a ride.

The “Road to Recovery” program has been providing cancer patients throughout King County with transportation to medical appointments since 1981. While the program has helped thousands, a shortage of volunteer drivers means ACS has to turn away an average of one cancer patient every day needing a ride to the doctor. For many that means taking the bus – exposing them to excess germs or taking excessively longer to get where they’re going. Others are forced to pay for a cab, even if they are struggling with medical expenses. Some even end up missing their treatment.

“We are desperate for volunteers,” said Amber Guinotte, Quality of Life Manager at ACS. “Transportation is one of the greatest needs among patients.”

Is your neighborhood in need of a slide? How about some swings? How about $15,000 to help make that playground a reality?

The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and KaBoom!, a national organization promoting fun and healthy play for kids, especially through playgrounds, are looking for needy communities to help in their quest to spread the joy of playgrounds.

The organizations are providing $15,000 grants to help fund equipment for communities "with a demonstrated need for a playground, as well as the project’s impact on the area and its capacity to engage the community."

In addition to the $15,000, the grantees will also receive help in planning, executing and mainting their playgrounds from KaBoom! and some of their alumni who have also recieved grants for playgrounds in the past.